Photo: Dudemanfellabra · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Meridian earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Meridian itself; outside it, Jackson draws the most (3%, 89 miles). Below the poverty line: 34.3% of residents, next to 18.9% across Mississippi. The two grades for Meridian are D for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Meridian: the gist
Meridian is where the jobs are
Meridian has 24,482 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Meridian workers earn over $40,000 a year
37% of Meridian’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Meridian draws workers from far and wide
The 24,482 jobs in Meridian are filled from a wide area. Meridian’s own residents hold 27% and the ten next-biggest home towns 8%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Meridian are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Meridian’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Meridian is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #74 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Meridian’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Meridian stays D.
Meridian fills up on a workday
On a workday 5,161 residents head out to work, 6,613 work right here, and 17,869 people come in from elsewhere.
About 46,000 people are in Meridian on a workday afternoon, 38% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Meridian’s 24,482 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Meridian, 2013 → 2023: 27,028 → 24,482. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Meridian’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Meridian: where workers come from
Where Meridian clocks in
3% of workers
1% of workers
1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from Meridian: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Meridian workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,600 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute from Meridian, by distance
About 28% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Meridian, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Meridian is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #46 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.8% across Mississippi.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,273 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.9% of Meridian households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Meridian’s commuters take a bus or train.
Meridian and other U.S. towns of 23,000 to 45,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Madison MS | 28,575 | $119K | 4.8% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 688 | Clinton MS | 26,640 | $75K | 9.6% | 3.2% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 725 | Brandon MS | 26,122 | $93K | 8.5% | 5.2% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,309 | LaGrange GA | 34,730 | $44K | 22.9% | 9.0% | 38% | D |
| 1,310 | Pine Bluff AR | 38,213 | $43K | 24.0% | 10.5% | 48% | D |
| 1,311 | Meridian MS | 33,370 | $37K | 34.3% | 7.9% | 56% | D |
| 1,312 | Elmira NY | 26,089 | $43K | 30.2% | 9.9% | 31% | D |
| 1,313 | Greenville MS | 26,530 | $40K | 28.0% | 6.7% | 48% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,315 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Meridian, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
The towns around Meridian
The biggest share goes to Marion (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Meridian workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian | – | D | B− | 19 min | $36,562 |
| Marion | 1% | D | D | 26 min | $46,500 |
| Nellieburg | under 1% | D | D | 23 min | $60,577 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Meridian’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Meridian: questions
What is the median household income in Meridian?
$36,562 (±$4,124) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Meridian?
34.3%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Meridian?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Meridian work?
56% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (3%, 89 mi), Laurel (1%, 55 mi), Hattiesburg (1%, 83 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Meridian walkable?
Meridian is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Meridian without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Meridian, from the people who make the trip.
More of Meridian
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.